First report of Amaranthus palmeri in Southern Africa
Amaranthus palmeri (Amaranthaceae - EPPO A2 pest) is a dioecious summer annual species native to North America, where it has become a weed in agricultural fields and disturbed habitats. It has a high fecundity and a long-lived seed bank which make management of the species difficult. In the EPPO region, it is established in a few countries and transient in several others. In South Africa, A. palmeri was recorded for the first time in 2018 in a farm in the Douglas district, Northern Cape Province. Here it was reported to infest maize, cotton and alfalfa fields. In 2019, A. palmeri was recorded growing in abundance along the main road some 7 km from the farm where it had been originally recorded. Additionally, it was collected from the Kruger National Park in disturbed habitats along the Limpopo river. In 2020, A. palmeri was also found in the North-West District in Botswana where local people confirmed it had been present in the area for at least ten years.
Sources
Sukhorukov AP, Kushunina M, Reinhardt CF, Bezuidenhout H, Vorster BJ (2020) First records of Amaranthus palmeri, a new emerging weed in southern Africa with further notes on other poorly known alien amaranths in the continent. BioInvasions Records 10, In Press. https://www.reabic.net/journals/bir/2021/1/BIR_2021_Sukhorukov.pdf